As communications platforms include ever greater bandwidth on existing channels, tradeoffs are made in the signal characteristics to accommodate the greater bandwidth. For example, Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) divides available signaling space into several amplitude ranges to increase signaling bandwidth by having several potential values defined at several potential amplitudes rather than two values (e.g., 0 at minima and 1 at maxima), but the resilience of the signal to noise is reduced; effectively trading SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) for bandwidth. As longer signaling channels may introduce more opportunities to introduce noise to the signal or cause the amplitude of the signal to decay over distance, and as users desire ever greater bandwidth, the operating conditions faced by transmitters and receivers demand greater attention to signal fidelity.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially used in other embodiments without specific recitation.